Cherish those you love, forever is a mere breath
by squibblyquill
Summary: Here's one for those who'd like a slice of what comes after the supposed happily ever after. No drama. No angst. Just something short, peaceful, and hopefully sweet. I do not own Labyrinth.
1. Triumph

A/N: Some fluffy fluff for fluff's sake! (try saying that five times fast)

Girly song in mind, but I did try to put them in the middle of an actual relationship and not just at its precipice (Kesha, True Love…yeah gag me with a spoon, so are the evils of youtube surfing)

:8:8:8:

Sarah was neatly planted in a pile of folded knees. The day had passed well. Hoggle had taken her out for a round of spray the sprite, Ludo had presented her with a pretty pet stone, Didymus had managed not to hyperventilate on their afternoon walk. Yup, apart from a slight cold, she was feeling just peachy.

Jareth, clever creature that he was, had managed to magically improvise a power source and a wifi connection for her laptop in the castle, so now she could email home and browse the net like the rest of her Aboveground compatriots. Sarah sighed with delight—how nice it was to keep up with the technological developments of her former kith and kin! After all this time, and time passed differently in the Underground, she'd realized how important it was to keep in touch with her 'roots.' So, Jareth had been bringing her the paper, and now she enjoyed wireless access to numerous cultural quirks and amenities. True, she did visit from time to time, but there was enough to do in the Labyrinth as it was.

The Goblin Kingdom had become her home the day she gave her life in marriage to its king. Mercifully, she had been pleasantly surprised to find Jareth was quite in earnest when he'd offered Sarah her dreams. And while they were still two very distinct personalities, Sarah took joy in feeling her heart steadily intertwine with the heart of the only man who'd ever known to speak to it—a wondrous fae of a man, though not without his periodic bouts of impishness and devilish antics. In any case, time and perspective had shown Sarah the importance of being playful. Helped her understand forever wasn't some static interminable tomb of an eon. Forever was just a moment. A now-each now she lived as she lived it, and nothing more. Not long at all in fact. No sense in getting wound up about spending the rest of eternity Underground in a Goblin Castle. That's not how it worked anyway. She'd just been too young to understand at first. Now infinitely grateful for the patience of her king, excitement began to rise in her breast knowing he might be home any minute. Ah, how she triumphed at his returns! Hugging herself with a warm smile spreading across her features, Sarah never wanted to take her mate for granted. Fair enough, sometimes the occasional negligence or irritability was unavoidable, still nothing in either of their worlds was allowed to make her lose sight of the being she cherished most in her life.

Twirling a recent gift between her fingers, she caught her breadth at the sound of his voice from across the room. She could tell from his posture and the curve of his lips he was happy to be home. Her eyes drank in the vision of her king as lungs partook deeply of the air between them. He teased her. She let the tone of his voice work its way like heat into her soul. Then silence cradled the room.

Now situated satisfactorily on a row of firm cushions against the wall, Jareth wore the air of languid leisure like a robe. In no hurry, Sarah eventually got up and folded herself into the nooks and crannies of his sprawled frame. Moving with reverent deliberation, each touch and brush of contact expanded like secret revelation billowing in her spirit. Awe clinging to the back of her tongue, she finally lifted her gaze and wordlessly invited him to overwhelm her trembling orbs with the fierce yet tender mystery of his own.


	2. Trillium

They were on vacation in the Aboveground. One of Helen's favorite things was biking on the trails Aboveground. Sarah seemed to enjoy the exertion as well, at least as far as Jareth could tell.

Even after all these years with an Abovegrounder as a queen, it still struck him strangely to be walking around as though he were one of them. Of course, Sarah was very attentive to his mild discomfort and made a special effort to secure general regal reverence would be preserved—though he figured her ulterior motive for such caution was directed more at the welfare of hapless humans who might otherwise offend his majesty. At the same time, he liked the way she never failed to address him in the manner fitting of his status Underground. _Of course, my dear Lord. Yes, my love, your Eminence…sweet king…._He positively savored it when she took pains to stroke his ego.

He smiled as she did her best to juggle affectionate reverence with bike locks and water bottles.

Helen never failed to mystify him the way she took after her mother. He could sense Sarah's world oozing and shimmering out from their child. He had a human daughter, he loved that she was human. Fae too, yes, and training her in the ways of his people was something he avidly looked forward to. But today he was quite content just watching his daughter eat black raspberry chocolate chip ice cream with finger sized chocolate chips and laugh as the purple melted down under her clone-clutching palm. Even the frizzed helmet hair now crowning her head pleased him. He absentmindedly toyed with non-existent crystal orbs as the two shining jewels of his life chattered on about literature, or geology…or something of that nature. Human sciences and disciplines tickled him beyond measure. He'd never explicitly boast to Sarah, but he'd memorized over five thousand human poems as well as the screenplays to hundreds of films.

Later on as rubber wheels paced swiftly over trail, Jareth noticed Sarah looking for trillium. In truth, the time for trillium had passed, its blossoms now extinct and sleeping with the earth—being Fae such distinctions of the seasons were second nature to him. As he fell back from Sarah's furious pedaling, he let himself go slower and slower until Helen's cheerful and slightly breathless salutation grew audible behind him. He let her come shoulder to shoulder with him. He knew she could sense the almost undetectable smirk crawling up his cheek.

"What do you want now, Dad?"

Dad, _hee…_it made his insides clench with joy hearing his daughter speak to him in the way of human children with their fathers. From no one else would he ever tolerate such unmasked flippancy and knowing camaraderie. But this was Helen, his very own. She knew him, sensed him for she carried a piece of him within her soul. And she was so unrepentantly clever!

"Tell your mother…you know she goes so fast," he drawled between pedal thrusts, letting the suspense build, "I mean ask her, ask her if she saw the trillium under the bridge we passed."

"What did it look like? What color was it?"

"Let's say….hm…white? Three petals, love."

"Right, dad. You bike on ahead."

"We wouldn't want your mother thinking I'd put the idea in your precious head now would we?" He smirked and launched himself down the trail as Helen did her best to stymie a fit of sniggers.


	3. The Man Behind the Goblin King

Sarah was very grateful for Jareth's presence right now. Helen was a wreck in her room and Sarah really was too much of a firestorm herself at the moment to know how to properly calm her down without inciting more argumentative parries.

Something so small really, some game involving fairies and a crystal orb and two goblins. God knows how she got herself so worked up. Adolescent girls—half girl half budding woman were pretty darn touchy. _Whatever_. Sarah rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders, recalling for an instant that she used to be that adolescent girl traipsing through a certain Goblin King's labyrinth. _How on earth did he manage me then?_

Jareth stood watching her from the other corner of the room, observing her state, calculating, processing in his silent way.

She didn't try to call her mate to come be with her from across the room. Instincts told her he was deep in an important process. Sarah trusted he was figuring out his own way of approaching the situation. After all, his mask of cruelty was generally only and merely that—a mask. Years and experience had taught her that behind his intimidating exterior lay a very large and valiant heart. So she did her best to respect that fact. _He's doing what he needs to do_…

Slumped in her chair, unable to read whatever book it was that dangled from her hand, she'd nearly dozed off when a light touch over her silken head and down her shoulder told her he was near. It was a nice surprise, a welcome affection she received from his hand. Planting himself on the arm of her chair, she released some of her inner tension in a telling sigh as he wrapped his slender arms about her.

"Don't worry, Sarah, I'll talk to her."

_God, Jareth, if you only knew how much I love you_. Her heart squeezed with gratitude as she lifted her chin to kiss each cheek and then the corners of his lips.

It occurred to her that men, including and especially this one, were extremely patient with women's emotional torrents. In the past, it had always been a trial not to burst and demand address when she'd been in one of her excited states. In fact, it had sometimes proved positively infuriating the way he'd simply back away and refuse to speak. How much she'd taken for granted! How little understanding she had shown at times for his generally comprehensible reticence…And here he was in the castle with the raging mother-daughter duo, showing her the one thing she had failed to show him on so many occasions: patience...careful understanding…

Deep down inside, her heart tingled with the knowledge that she was infinitely blessed to be spouse and Queen of the man behind the Goblin King.


	4. Talkative

He'd been at it for over forty minutes. Sarah had found herself on the receiving end of an extemporaneous lecture on the physics of Bog Fairies and the psychological effects derivable from Bog Fairy antics.

Smiling, she flipped her hair to the side and finally cut in, "I didn't know you were this talkative dear."

"Oh, you didn't?" Raised eyebrow in Sarah's direction.

"You were always fairly succinct when we first met if I recall..."

"Yes, that's the protocol with runners. I did warn you not to take anything for granted." At last a grin sprouted.

"Things in this place clearly are rarely as they appear to be." She lanced a playful look.

"Well, you're in for it now, aren't you, my love? Fooled by your very own Goblin King...now you'll have to listen to my ceaseless meandering, and the best part is I can materialize at your side to bore you at any second." He coaxed her into his lap with only a small measure of cajoling.

Sarah laughed and leaned the back of her head into his chest before sitting up and smirking.

"You can talk all you want my love, when I'm no longer interested by your directionless babble, I'll simply stop listening."

He let his jaw drop slightly in mock incredulity. Sarah shrugged and winked, leaning in for a kiss on the place where jaw met ear.

"Just kidding." Her soft voice tickling his brain.

"Oh but I'm not. You're stuck with me now." He gave her a squeeze. She hugged him in return.

What better a person to be stuck with than the one and only Goblin King-teases, tugs, taunts and all!


End file.
